COULD RISING WAGES IN CHINA BOOST AMERICAN CITIES?

The minimum wage in Beijing is up 20 percent this year. In export giant Shenzhen the minimum just climbed 15.8 percent. And 18 other cities and provinces across China have hiked their base wage as well. To stave off strikes and a highly publicizedspate of workplace suicides, foreign manufacturers have increased pay and improved working conditions. Rising wages represent long-overdue good news for the overworked and poorly paid employees who make the consumer products Americans use every day. But could it be positive for American workers — and the economies of our hometowns — as well?continue reading